Social groups have been a common practice since the beginning of human civilizations. You often see it glorified by Hollywood in movies regarding high schools with the stereotypes like jocks and nerds. If you talk to anyone within the VMI corps of cadets, they will most likely tell you that these same types of groups exist at the institute. The biggest group divide at VMI is between non-NCAA cadets and NCAA cadets. As a cadet at VMI, it is just a part of daily life. There have even been derogatory terms made for each of these groups. Non-NCAA cadets are called NARPs (Non-athletic regular person), and athletes are referred to as permits. The name permit stems from how NCAA cadets are on scholarship to be here, hence that they are “on permit”. This problem is not entirely the cadets’ fault, and usually stems from issues in the ratline, and other athletic related issues. To begin, before incoming rats even get to the school, the sports coaches and athletic departments don’t tell these fresh high school graduates what they are really getting into. All these incoming rats hear is that VMI is a military school and that they will be playing a division 1 sport on scholarship. For most of these athletes, this little information does not give them enough of an idea of VMI to make an educated decision. They just hear a free path to Division 1 sports and sign away. Keep in mind these are kids who just got out of high school being in the highest social class, and are now signing themselves up for the most adversarial system offered in the U.S. When I was a rat, I was surprised to find out that some of the new players on the football team barely even knew the ratline existed. This leads to immediate problems when they finally get to VMI. When you are faced with something you unknowingly signed up for, most react in a negative way. This is the case for these new rats. They tend to be more disrespectful and put the least amount of effort into VMI. I have experienced this many times this year being a cadre corporal for Alpha company. Whenever there is a problem which could range from utter disrespect to having a dirty uniform, it tends to be an NCAA rat. Some living and breathing evidence of this is a specific rat in Alpha Company, who I will refer to as Rat P. Rat P has racked up over 250 demerits so far in not even a full semester, as well as shown repeated signs of disrespect for just about everyone, including teachers, Commandant Staff, cadets, and even his own brother rats. Demerits are a form of discipline at VMI, and track discrepancies. For example, if you have a dirty uniform during inspection you will get two demerits. The average cadet easily gathers less than twenty demerits in a single semester. 250 is an outrageous number of demerits in itself, but the lack of disciplinary action taken against the rat is astounding. According to the blue book code S0480, gathering over just 100 demerits in a semester results in an immediate suspension (Blue Book pg.65). After reading this, I wondered why Rat P had not been suspended yet. I asked my First Sergeant and he relayed the information to me that the Commandant Staff will typically not suspend athletes. This is just a blatant form of misjustice, and the blame can only be pointed towards the administration, not the cadets themselves. Rat P has made it obvious that his only reason for being at the institute is to play sports, and due to current disciplinary measures, he gets to do just that.
NCAA rats also miss a significant amount of the ratline. Even during the first and hardest week of the ratline, Hell Week, these athletes are taken out to go to sports practices. This already tarnishes their image with the non-NCAA rats, but what is done during these times is even more alarming. According to a cadet on the wrestling team, coaches would provide air mattresses for the rats to relax and take a break, while the rats back on post were suffering through the ratline. He even noted that they were allowed to have their phones in the locker room, and even had gaming consoles. The same exists in the various other sports teams at VMI, even football, soccer, and lacrosse. This causes a stigma from the earliest moment of VMI against all these NCAA rats. Even if it is the administrations’ fault, and the rats themselves don’t have a say in what goes on during athletic time, non-NCAA rats have a hard time seeing this through the goggles of the ratline. Last year, I had an athlete roommate who experienced this division firsthand. He would constantly be ridiculed by other cadets for missing out on training times for track practices and meets. As he said, though, this was all against his will. He wanted to take part in ratline activities and be there with his brother rats, but the athletic department simply wouldn’t let that happen. He would even ask about being able to attend some of the larger activities of the ratline, like a 20-mile march with your senior mentor and was turned down. Even when I ask him now about the stigma, he agrees it exists far beyond the ratline. Many of the departments use this practice of reduced ratline activities to preserve the cadet’s physical capability. They don’t want the rat to be tired at games, so they rip them from the ratline.
To solve this division, I propose four different solutions that function as one package.
My first solution is that the Athletic departments and coaches need to be more transparent about the ratline and life at VMI. Keeping information from these rats is doing them too much harm. The Athletic department knows the interest in coming to VMI would lessen with a full knowledge of the ratline, so they stay away from it. They are feeding misinformation to young men and women to make a profit. My second solution is that athletes need to be disciplined the same way as NARPs. This is clearly the most unjust practice regarding athletes at VMI. If an athlete conducts themselves in a way that suits discipline, it should not be softened just because of their status. Commandant staff avoids suspending athletes to keep them on the fields. They are all grown men and women, and should be treated as such. This solution would put athletes and non-athletes on a level playing field, and reduce the stigma. My third solution is most likely the most impactful solution to the division. NCAA rats need to miss minimal to no rat training times. This has been the root of the problem for too long. The athletic and rat training schedule needs to be reworked to get these two groups together as much as possible. Only then will the stigma truly start to dissolve. Instead of non-NCAA rats forming this grudge against athletes, they will embrace them as brothers and sisters, because they all suffered equally through the ratline. My fourth and final solution is that coaches need to be held accountable for what goes on during athletic training time. Athletes should not be given a leg up over their counterparts just because of a coach’s selfish tendencies. If coach’s go against these guidelines and don’t use this athletic time for athletics it should be regulated and dealt with accordingly.
My reasoning for these solutions is simple. It would cause a greater sense of unity and respect in the corps. Athletes and non-athletes would see each other as equals and appreciate what each side does for the school. As a result, cadets would have a greater pride in VMI sports. No longer would cadets dread going to a Saturday football game just to sit in the bleachers for hours. They would have the excitement of supporting their brother and sister rats that are out on the field. The crowds would cheer louder, and as a result the teams would play harder. All in all it would lead to a more disciplined corps. If everyone is held to the same standards, there is no excuse for falling below them.
It is up to us as cadets to realize this injustice and fully acknowledge it. It is not the athletes’ fault for the many issues, but leadership at VMI and the athletic departments. The blame should never be on each other when this division is systemic in origin. We need to come together to tackle the administration and show that we will not stand for the selfish tendencies to treat NCAA sports as a business, using our athletes as more animals than human beings. It all starts with the individual, and the knowledge they possess, which I hope I have now provided.
Works Cited
“Official Athletics Website.” Virginia Military Institute, vmikeydets.com/.
“Virginia Military Institute Athletics Programs.” Virginia Military Institute Athletics Programs – College Factual, www.collegefactual.com/colleges/virginia-military-institute/student-life/sports/.
Commandant Staff. VMI Blue Book. VMI, 2020.
Cadet Brandon Bauman
Cadet Brian Jackson